CALL me an old romantic, but I was chuffed to bits when Sunday’s FA Cup draw gave Crawley Town a trip to Manchester United.

It’s fair to say that the cup has lost a lot of its magic in recent years. I blame the so-called Big Four for that because they see the Premier League and the Champions League as far more prestigious competitions.

I can understand that to a certain extent because it’s all about money. But, as far as I am concerned, history and the tradition will always ensure that the FA Cup has a special place in my sporting calendar.

When I was playing we all loved the FA Cup. On Monday lunchtimes when the draw was broadcast live on the radio, players all over the country used to huddle round a couple of cars waiting to see who you were up against in the next round.

Things have changed – and not for the better – but when you witness an event like we saw on Sunday afternoon when Leyton Orient were drawn against Arsenal then Crawley – the only non-league side left in the competition – were paired with United it restored my faith in football’s oldest and greatest knockout competition.

It’s a brilliant tie and I just hope they go to Old Trafford and do themselves justice.

I’ll be interested to see how Sir Alex Ferguson approaches the game Obviously he could pick a weakened team – even weaker than the one he selected at Southampton on Saturday evening. But there’s an element of risk attached to that because he knows United will be up against a team that has nothing to lose and will be really pumped up. Fergie certainly won’t want to be on the receiving end of what would be one of the biggest, if not the biggest upset, in the cup’s 139-year history.

Bruce Rioch always used to put us on our guard when we played so-called lesser sides. The rule was that you gave the same respect to every team you played against, no matter what league they came from. And if we ever needed proof of the perils complacency can bring, we only needed to look at how we nearly came unstuck against Gretna in the first round of the 1993-94 competition when we eventually reached the quarter-finals.

Bolton fans always remember the big giant-killing successes we had against Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa and Arsenal, but they don’t talk too much about the Gretna game when we needed a couple of late goals from Owen Coyle to spare our blushes.

I DON’T need to tell any Bolton supporters how special it is to beat Manchester United, so you can imagine what it meant to the youth team when they beat their local rivals 1-0 at Lostock on Friday to complete a league double.

As coaches we look at results against United as a measure of how well you are progressing yourself because they are the ultimate academy and the fact that we are right up there in second place in the Academy Premier League is a measure of how well we have done this season.

It’s not about winning the league, although that would be good for the lads. As far as David Lee and myself are concerned, our job with the under-18s is all about developing kids and passing them on to the reserves and, eventually, the senior squad.

It takes time, obviously, but that’s what we are striving for.

I don’t like to bang on about the youth team but from time to time it’s right to give them credit for what they are achieving and that performance against United deserves mention.

The whole team played well and the goal Jack Sampson scored typified the performance – a good team goal with a four-man move and a good finish.

The incentive is there, the gaffer has come out and said that if a kid is good enough, he is old enough and he will be given a chance. And you can’t ask for more than that.

We have another tough test at Lostock on Saturday when we take on Everton, who are top of the league.

The match kicks off at 11am, so if you fancy checking out the talent we have in the academy ranks, why not pop along and have a look for yourself.

WE didn’t get the result we were hoping for at the Reebok on Saturday but we saw that in David Wheater, Owen Coyle has signed a quality defender who will make a big contribution for many years to come.

At 23 he is definitely one for the future but he gave such an impressive performance on his debut that you can see he can play at this level now.

I just wish he could have capped his performance by sticking away that chance that fell to him in the dying minutes.

It would have been a completely different story, of course, if Johan Elmander and Martin Petrov had put away the early chances they had. Johan needs a goal to get back on the boil again and that would have done him and the team a power of good.

The incentive is still there, though, to give the FA Cup a really good go. We can go to Wigan and win the replay, and although there’s more Premier League opposition waiting for us in the next round, I see no reason why we can’t go to Fulham and win there as well.

But that’s for the future. All we should be concerned about now is getting a win tomorrow night.

We’ve had some indifferent results recently and this is a chance to get back on track.

As ever, the fans can play a big part because you can bet Wolves will bring a few with them.

We’ve had some really good tussles with Wolves down the years and there has been a spicy rivalry between the two famous old Wanderers.

This will be a good one to win for a number reasons but none more important than putting some points on the board at the expense of one of the teams below us.

I reckon if we can start the game in the way we started against Chelsea last week, we can get the result we want.

FANS of the Wanderers and the people of Bolton paid a fitting tribute to Nat Lofthouse when they turned out in huge numbers to give the great man a magnificent send-off.

It also showed how well thought of he was throughout the football world when so many of the game’s big names were there to pay their respects.

He is going to be missed but he will never be forgotten because his legacy will live forever.

You could not have asked for a better talisman for a town and its football club.